Carlos Simon (b. 1986)
The Block (2018)
Tales: A Folklore Symphony (2021)
Songs of Separation (2023)
Wake Up! Concerto for Orchestra (2023)
J’Nai Bridges (mezzo-soprano)
National Symphony Orchestra / Gianandrea Noseda
rec. live, 2021-24, Concert Hall of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC
Texts included
National Symphony Orchestra NSO0018 SACD [67]

I first encountered the music of the African-American composer Carlos Simon in 2023. That was at a BBC Proms concert when Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra gave the European premiere of his Four Black American Dances (2022). I really enjoyed the piece (review) so I was delighted when this SACD of another four recent works arrived for review. All of these performances have been recorded live by the National Symphony Orchestra and their music director Gianandrea Noseda at concerts in the orchestra’s home hall in the Kennedy Center. The recordings have already been released individually in digital form on the NSO’s own label but now they have been gathered together and released as an SACD album. This follows the precedent of the Beethoven symphony cycle recorded by Noseda and the NSO, which I reviewed on SACD earlier in 2024.

The curtain raiser to this programme is The Block. The composer explains in a short note that the work was inspired by the visual art of the American artist, author and songwriter Romare Bearden (1911-1988). Bearden was born in Charlotte, North Carolina but spent much of his life in the New York borough of Harlem.  As Carlos Simon explains, Bearden’s work The Block, which I believe dates from the 1970s, “is comprised of six paintings that highlight different buildings (church, barbershop, nightclub, etc) in Harlem on one block”. He goes on to say that his own piece “explores various musical textures that highlight the vibrant scenery and energy that a block on Harlem or any urban city exhibits”. Simon’s piece is short, colourful and lively. The whole orchestra contributes fully to the piece but listeners will notice – and enjoy, I think – the prominence given to the percussion.

Tales: A Folklore Symphony is a four-movement work which explores various aspects of African American folklore and Afrofuturist stories. The first movement is entitled ‘Motherboxx Convention’; in Simon’s words it “is inspired by the many heroic characters found in the work of Black Kirby, but mainly Motherboxx Convention”. I had to do a bit of research which led me to the discovery that Black Kirby is the shared pseudonym of two African American academics, Stacey Robinson and John Jennings. You can find out more about their work as Black Kirby here. In this movement, Simon’s music is fast and furious and seems scarcely to pause for breath. The second movement, ‘Flying Africans’ is very different. Simon introduces the piece thus: “Once, all Africans could fly, but lost their ability after they crossed the Atlantic Ocean as enslaved humans”.  This is slow, tranquil and regretfully nostalgic music; the haunting Spiritual ‘Steal away’ permeates the piece.

The third movement is entitled ‘Go Down Moses (Let My People Go)’. Unsurprisingly, given that title, the famous and powerful Spiritual plays a big part. This movement, the longest of the four, references the plagues visited on Egypt until eventually Pharoah let the Israelites leave his kingdom. There’s a good deal of heavy, oppressive music which illustrates both the travails of the Egyptians and the plagues themselves. This, like the previous movement, is impressively imagined for the orchestra. Finally, Simon gives us ‘John Henry’, which references traditional work songs. In strong, powerful music you can hear the pulsing rhythm of slow hammer strokes – deliberately done slowly by the workers so that they worked at a pace which was just sufficient to keep the bosses content while not exhausting themselves.

Songs of Separation was written with the specific vocal attributes of mezzo J’Nai Bridges in mind. It’s unsurprising, therefore, that the four songs seem to fit her voice like a glove. The songs are settings of lines by the 13th-century Persian poet and Sufi mystic Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī. The central theme of the songs is that of separation and loss; Thomas May tells us in a note that Carlos Simon became very focussed on these issues as a result of the Covid pandemic. All four songs are intense but in different ways. ‘The Garden’ is very beautiful; the vocal line is expressive and for much of the time the orchestral scoring is delicate. J’Nai Bridges’ tone is lustrous and she sings most expressively. ‘Burning Hell’ is at the opposite pole; here. the music is intensely dramatic and urgent. The pain of separation and loss is strongly expressed. This is uncomfortable listening – as it should be – and J’Nai Bridges very deliberately hardens her tone. Another contrast is offered by ‘Dance’ which takes the form of a bittersweet waltz. The set concludes with ‘We Are All The Same’. Though the soloist is required to speak one line near the start, for much of the time the melodic line is lovely and the singer is supported by delicate, sophisticated orchestral textures. It’s a touching song which gradually grows in intensity. I’m inclined to think it’s the finest of the four. These are excellent, eloquent songs and J’Nai Bridges sings as one who has taken them to her heart.

The last work on the disc is Wake Up! Concerto for Orchestra. This work, Simon tells us, is inspired by the poem Awake, Asleep by the Nepali poet Rajendra Bhandari (b 1956). An English translation of the poem is printed in the booklet. Simon explains that Bhandari’s poem “warns of the danger of being obliviously asleep in a social world, but yet how collective wakefulness provides ‘a bountiful harvest of thoughts’”. I’m bound to say that so far, I haven’t really worked out how the poem relates to the music I hear; that may well come in time. For now, I can say that Wake Up! is a true Concerto for Orchestra in the sense that during its twenty-minute duration the potential of the modern orchestra is excitingly and inventively explored. The work contains a lot of strongly rhythmical music but also some tranquil passages. All sections of the orchestra are given a challenging but, I suspect, fun workout. Just in case the audience is in any doubt, much of the Concerto is permeated by a little two-note figure which indisputably enjoins the listener to ‘wake up!’

This is a stimulating and enjoyable album which confirms the excellent impression I got of Carlos Simon’s music when I heard Four Black American Dances. He’s an imaginative composer with a lot to say, especially when he is reflecting on his own African-American roots and heritage. Though quite a lot of the music recorded here is entertaining, in the true sense of the word, Songs of Separation in particular demonstrates Simon’s eloquent side. I hope to hear more of his music in the future. Though his soundworld seems particularly suited to the American orchestral style and timbres, I hope his works is being taken up by ensembles elsewhere in the world.  Gianandrea Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra give colourful, incisive performances.

The recorded sound on the stereo layer of this SACD has good presence and impact.

John Quinn

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